[RESOLVED] - Knocking post Top End Refresh

[dreaming.haze]

As Gerry and 777 have done in the past, I decided to complete a top-end refresh project over the past 6 months. Last night I finally got everything hooked back up and together and sadly now have some knocking noises coming from the drivers side cylinder bank. From my ear, it sounds like an old W123 diesel clacking about, which is never a good feeling.

Here is a video of the noise:

New video · Monday, Oct 18, 2021 ð¬

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History / testing notes:
1. Had valve covers off to replace gaskets / timing chain guides / oil separator valve.
2. Intake manifold was fully off car / new gaskets were put down. During this process engine was turned over by hand to close off valves to clean.
3. Ignition system is all new from Coils > Plugs.
4. Injectors were cleaned / fresh o-rings, etc.
5. Before initial start up - engine was cranked without injectors hooked up to build oil pressure. No noise / knocking was heard at this time.
6. Post running the engine for small amount/s of time to confirm noise, drained a small amount of oil out from pan and noticing very small amount of metal flake / particles. Distinct looking metal, but not in large quantities.

Not wanting to jump into worst case scenarios, I figured I would come here for some advice on next testing steps.

Car notes: 1992 500E / ~156k miles / Ran fine before this refresh beyond a limp home mode from what I diagnosed as the ETA failing (sent off to Don for rebuild)

UPDATE: Editing first post for historic lookup - Issue was the lifter on cylinder 7 ticket. Resolved by running car fully up to temperature + driving it around the block. Post this the lifter noise was no longer active.

 

[gsxr]

Although the sound is slightly different, it might just be the video... could be a lifter ticking. I assume it has metal oil tubes?

If the knock is from the bottom end, it should quiet down when that cylinder is not firing. You can shut off 1 cylinder at a time via SDS/HHT-Win, or unplug one injector at a time (clear fault codes afterwards). Hopefully it's just valvetrain.

Here's a video (skip to 0:30) that shows the typical lifter tick noise:
(Note: not my video, not my car - found this on YouToob, but to my ears the audio is accurate):

 

[dreaming.haze]

Dave, your ear is spot on there. The noise is the same on my engine. Thank you for the video.
Metal oil tubes are in the car currently, have not changed them out nor redone the o-rings on them.

Feels like this thread has solid next steps to go down: Ticking after warmed up (Has metal Oilers) | M119 Engine

 

[gsxr]

If it is a lifter... have you let the engine run for 20-30 mins to get everything up to temp, and see if the ticking subsides? If an engine has not run for a long time (many months) a lifter can tick for a short while when re-started. If the tick never goes away, something is fishy and you'll need to dig in further.

 

[dreaming.haze]

Dave, great point there. Was just reading that idea here: Valve lifter cleaning / rebuilding? | M119 Engine

I'll report back post work to confirm potential of fix.

 

[Kyiv]

Although the sound is slightly different, it might just be the video... could be a lifter ticking. I assume it has metal oil tubes?

If the knock is from the bottom end, it should quiet down when that cylinder is not firing. You can shut off 1 cylinder at a time via SDS/HHT-Win, or unplug one injector at a time (clear fault codes afterwards). Hopefully it's just valvetrain.

Here's a video (skip to 0:30) that shows the typical lifter tick noise:

Dave, for what it's worth, this what a, in my understanding, a bad lifter/s sounds like on my car. Had this sound for, with few gaps, 40k mi now. Which in my impression is not similar to your video example.

*The video is dark because filmed at night, but one can hear a distinct tap-tap-tap/tick-tock-tick in the background of regular engine noise:

New video · Thursday, Feb 14, 2019 ð¬

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[dreaming.haze]

Good news! Was able to let things get up to temp and the noise was decreasing with time and after a drive around the block, the noise is gone entirely.

First video when getting the car up to temp / noted improvement over the previous day noise wise: New video by William Hayes | Lifter noise was coming from ~7 cylinder

Second video after the drive around the block:

New video · Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021 ð¬

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Now time to put things back together fully and look into the start of other project work such as Lower Wiring Harness / Motor Mounts / Power Steering line replacements / etc.

 

[Kyiv]

@dreaming.haze, what a relief this must be!! I totally feel for you!! The sound on your very first video was scary (to me). But that is gone after a brief drive is a very positive sign!

 

[dreaming.haze]

@kiev - Was certainly a relief once things smoothed out and everything was running as expected! Last night I had finished off putting things together and heard that initial noise ~2AM and that noise kept me up even longer scratching my head.